Freeze frames

There's No better way to beat the heat than to watch a movie, indoors and with plenty of ice-cold beverages on hand. But to get your body chilled down beyond the reaches of air conditioning, you need to get your mind into the game. Cold films -- either because of their outdoor locales or because of the cold-hearted characters -- are just the ticket to chill the blood further. Here is our list of movies guaranteed to induce chilblain.

The Thing (1982)

In this classic, coldly terrifying horror flick starring a young, hot Kurt Russell, members of an American scientific research outpost in the frozen wastes of Antarctica find themselves struggling against a parasitic alien organism capable of perfectly imitating its victims.

Fargo (1996)

The whitewashed, winter landscapes of the northern Midwest are marred only by splashes (or gouts) of bright red blood. Everyone into the wood chipper!

Alive (1993)

A Uruguayan rugby team's plane crashes in the middle of the Andes mountains, forcing the guys to do anything and everything to stay alive through the freezing cold, including feasting on the bodies of the dead, Donner Party-style.

March of the Penguins (2005)

You don't have to be a cold-climate bird to appreciate the frigid environment these penguins endure every mating season.

Batman Returns (1992)

The first Batman sequel (the one with a smoking hot Michelle Pfeffier as Catwoman) was set in a wintery Gotham that actually looked cold (the movie's set was reportedly refrigerated to around 40 degrees), and culminates in a scene featuring dozens of penguins turned into rocket launchers. Best of all: no Mr. Freeze.

Titanic (1997)

Only the part at the end after the big boat has sunk and the survivors are freezing to death in the icy north Atlantic. Director James Cameron had the effects people add visible breath in front of the actors to really sell the cold. Mission accomplished.

The Day After Tomorrow (2004)

Yes, it is one of the most insipid plots ever, and Dennis Quaid's overland journey to save his son is improbable, at best. But for vistas of the white stuff, piled hundreds of feet deep and smothering the Big Apple, you can't beat it.

Ice Station Zebra (1968)

The Cold War, icy waters and solid pack ice. Throw Rock Hudson, Ernest Borgnine and Jim Brown into a submarine, and you've got a great B-movie afternoon in the summer.

Alexander Nevsky (1938)

The Soviet film maestro Sergei Eisenstein is perhaps best known for the epic sweep of his battle on the ice of Lake Peipus, depicting the defense of Novgorod from the teutonic hordes. If it was good enough for Stalin ... .

Nanook of the North (1922)

Eskimo family struggles to survive and co-exist with nature. Freezing cold nature.

The Cutting Edge (1992)

Figure skaters fight it out then fall in love ... on the ice. What more could you ask for?

Akira Kurosawa's Dreams (1990)

Just for the blizzard scene, a classic moment of beauty, life and death.

Bad Santa (2003)

Anal sex in the dressing room. Cold.

Dr. Zhivago (1965)

The sweep of the Bolshevik Revolution. The chill of the Russian landscape. Julie Christie's fur, um, Julie Christie in fur.

McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)

Altman's classic reinvention of the Western genre. Julie Christie in pioneer gear, plus Warren Beatty bleeding to death in a snowbank.

Atanarjuat the Fast Runner (2001)

This film about the Inuit people reminds you how good we have it. These fuckers don't even have cable!

The Ice Harvest (2005)

Underrated. Ass-beatings, pratfalls, Cusack, Billy Bob and more, all in the midst of a winter storm.

The Ice Storm (1997)

Ang Lee's meditation on suburban mores circa the early '70s -- and it's freezing outside.

The Lion in Winter (1968)

King Henry II (Peter O'Toole) is one chilly motherfucker.

The Edge (1997)

Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin lost in the woods as the mercury drops. That's bad enough, but then they have to battle a very persistent grizzly bear. And Mamet's dialogue.

The Shining (1980)

House-sitting a snowed-in resort -- with a madman. Jack Nicholson gets his, ending up an ice cube.

In Cold Blood (1967)

Robert Blake and Scott Wilson -- a couple of extremely cold killers.